Kidō
is one of the four basic Shinigami combat forms, at least according to Captain Sōsuke Aizen. Kidō is the technique that Shinigami use to focus their Spiritual Energy into magic spells of various powers. These spells serve a wide variety of uses such as healing, defense, or combat. These spells are graded on a scale of 1 to 99, the latter being the most powerful and the most difficult to perform. In order to use Kidō one must recite the incantation, state the name of the spell, and call its number. For someone skilled enough in a particular Kidō spell, the incantation is not necessary, but reciting it will increase the potential power of the spell. There are three main types of Kidō: binding spells, destruction spells, and healing spells. Binding spells are a broad category referring to anything designed to halt or deter an enemy, destructive spells refer to anything designed to specifically harm an enemy, and healing spells, which do not require names, numbers, or incantations to cast, simply heal the Shinigami's comrades. A lower-level Hado spell, such as Byakurai, can be utterly devasating and when used by a skilled and powerful user, such as Byakuya and other users. Binding(縛道, bakudō, literally "way of binding") Spells 1. — Locks a target's arms in place behind their back. Incantation: unknown/none. 4. — An energy rope entangles a target's arms. Incantation: unknown/none. 9. — Engulfs a target in red light, completely paralyzing them. Incantation: "Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini! Look upon yourself with horror and then claw out your own throat!"("自壊せよロンダニーニの黒犬!! 一読し・焼き払い・自ら喉を掻き切るがいい!") 30. - Shoots three beams of light that pin the target to one place on a surface, slamming into his/her body in three places in a shape of a perfect triangle.Bleach manga, Chapter 330, page 18 Incantation: unknown/none. 39. — Summons a shield of condensed Reiatsu to block opponents' attacks.Bleach manga, Chapter 322, page 16 Incantation: unknown/none. 58. — Tracks and locates any spiritual force the user focuses on. To activate it, the user must draw a circle on the ground, cut into four parts with a specific character in each. The incantation animates the circle, causing various numbers to appear within until the specific set is found. The number set seems to be a variation on longitude and latitude. Incantation: "Heart of the south, eye of the north, finger of the west, foot of the east, arrive with the wind and depart with the rain."("南の心臓　北の瞳　西の指先　東の踵 風持ちて　集い雨払いて散れ") 61. — Summons six thin, but wide, beams of light that slam into a target's midsection, holding them in place. Incantation: "Carriage of Thunder. Bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six!"("雷鳴の馬車 糸車の間隙 光もて此を六に別つ") 62. — A rod formed of energy is thrown towards the target before it disintegrates into numerous short rods which are used to pin the target to the surroundings and render them immobile. Incantation: unknown/none. 63. — Binds the arms of a target.Bleach manga, Chapter -101, page 16 According to Hachigen Ushōda, physical strength alone should not be enough to break out of a level 60 Bakudō, however Kensei Muguruma was able to free himself from this Kidō while in his Hollow form.Bleach manga, Chapter -101, page 17 Incantation: unknown/none. 75. — Summons five incredibly tall and thick pillars to pin a target to the ground. Incantation: "Walls of ironsand, a priestly pagoda, glowing ironclad fireflies. Standing upright, silent to the end."("鉄砂の壁、僧形の塔、灼鉄熒熒、湛然として終に音無し;) 77. — Transmits messages to anyone within Soul Society. In addition to reciting the spell, the user must draw specific markings on their arms, which are animated by the spell to convey the messages.Bleach manga, Chapter 172, pages 6-10 Incantation: "Black and white net. Twenty-two bridges, sixty-six crowns and belts. Footprints, distant thunder, sharp peak, engulfing land, hidden in the night, sea of clouds, blue line. Form a circle and fly though the heavens." ("黒白の羅！二十二の橋梁 六十六の冠帯 足跡・遠雷・尖峰・回地・夜伏・雲海・蒼い隊列 太円に満ちて天を挺れはし)Bleach manga, Chapter 172, page 7 81. — Creates an energy barrier in the form of a rectangular wall. According to Byakuya, it is capable of stopping destructive spells up to #89.Bleach manga, chapter 302, page 7 This is seen also when Aizen uses it to block Tessai's hado #88.Bleach manga, chapter -98, page 12 Incantation: unknown/none. 99, Part 1. — Binds the arms of a target with spiritual fabric and iron shafts. Incantation: unknown/none. 99, Part 2. — This spell covers a target from head to toe with spiritual fabric (first song), stabs them with numerous metal blades (second song), and then smashes them with an immense metal cube (final song). Incantation: . . . Destructive (破道, hadō, literally "way of destruction") Spells 1. — Pushes the target away from the caster.Bleach manga, Chapter 301, page 6 Incantation: unknown/none. 4. — Fires a concentrated bolt of lightning from the caster's forefinger. Incantation: unknown/none. 31. — Fires a ball of red energy at a target. Incantation: "Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south!"("君臨者よ！血雨の仮面·万象·羽ばたき·ヒトの名を冠す者よ！焦熱と争乱、海隔て逆巻き南へと歩を進めよ！") 33. — Fires a burst of blue spiritual energy at a target in a similar manner to 31, but over a wider area and with more power. Incantation: "Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws."("君臨者よ！血肉の仮面·万象·羽ばたき·ヒトの名を冠する者よ！真理と節制、罪知らぬ夢の壁に僅かに爪を立てよ！") 54. — Fires a blast of purple spiritual energy that will incinerate a target completely when it makes contact. Incantation: unknown/none. 58. - A widening tornado-like blast is fired towards the target. Incantation: unknown/none 63. — Fires a massive wave of yellow energy at a target. Incantation: "Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle!" ("散在する獣の骨！尖塔・紅晶・鋼鉄の車輪　動けば風　止まれば空　槍打つ音色が虚城に満ちる！") 73. — Essentially a doubled version of #33, this spell fires two shots of blue fire with greater potency than the single-shot variety. Incantation: "Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens." ("君臨者よ！血肉の仮面・万象・羽ばたき・ヒトの名を冠す者よ！蒼火の壁に双蓮を刻む 大火の淵を遠天にて待つ") 88. — Fires a gigantic blast of spiritual energy resulting in a truly enormous explosion. Incantation: unknown/none. 90. — Forms a box of black energy around a target, which is then pierced by dozens of energy "spears", lacerating the one inside from head to toe. Its appearance and function is reminiscent of a common magician's trick, as well as certain torture devices used during the Spanish Inquisition. Incantation: unknown/none. Forbidden Spells * — A forbidden spell used by Tessai along with kūkanten'i. It is a spell that halts time in a specific area. * — A forbidden spell used by Tessai with jikanteishi to teleport a specified portion of space from one point to another, transporting even other active kidō spells. Other These spells are not explicitly stated to be in one category or the other. * — Momo Hinamori uses this spell while imprisoned to knock out a guard and destroy everything within a certain radius of herself. The anime suggests that it is a binding spell, but doesn't number it. * — Tōshirō Hitsugaya used this to seal Momo Hinamori's hospital room. It creates a glass-like barrier which is difficult to break from the outside, but quite simple to break from the inside. * — This technique nullifies an opponent's kidō by hitting them with a perfectly opposite surge of energy. Yoruichi uses this against Soifon's shunkō. * — As the name suggests, the Kidō Cannon is basically a high-intensity energy weapon powered by kidō in Bleach: Memories of Nobody. It consists of a crystalline focus point attached to the top of a massive pole, with several smaller crystal structures circling up towards the main one. It is powered by hundreds of shinigami working in concert, creating an energy blast capable of obliterating a small dimension. The blast forms into several animal shapes which roar just before contact. The power of the blast is such that, in addition to destroying its target, it also causes a small amount of damage to both the human world and Soul Society. Despite its power, it is not a reusable weapon, as it burns into a pile of scrap after being fired. Notes and references